Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Zagreb, March 23 (CP) – Due to disputed contracts from the past Croatia may be looking at paying some € 250 million in damages.

Over the years Croatia has had a number of disputes when contracts for certain services agreed were broken off and two court cases are to end any day now with Croatia possibly having to pay up some €70 million.

Namely, the central bank account is to have finances repossessed from it in the amount of at least €37 million in the dispute with the Italian Astaldi construction company regarding the building of the Zagreb-Gorican motorway, when Astaldi in 1999 broke the construction contract claiming the Croatian government was to blame for the finances not being secured. The job was done by the Croatian army led by Ljubo Cesic Rojs.

Despite Croatia’s efforts to make the court cases at the arbitration court in Vienna go its way, the effort failed and the money will have to be paid to Astaldi.

Last week, it was announced that Croatia would have to pay some €40 million in damages to Hypo Alpe Adria Group for misleading it in the sale of Slavonska Banka, but the two sides might find a solution in talks scheduled for next week.

Zagreb, March 23 (CP) – A member of the Bad Blue Boys (BBB) Dinamo Zagreb soccer club supporters, an 18-year-old youth has been arrested after police searched for him for a whole day following an incident in Zagreb’s main square when he rammed a TV cameraperson, giving him a bloody nose and knocking over his camera and damaging it.

The incident happened as a group of 200 hooded BBB’s was protesting the campaign against them with a ’silent’ protest.

They demanded that the protest not be filmed and when the Croatian Radio Television cameraperson ran towards them to take a shot, the youth ran towards him, knocking over the camera.

The incident comes following the death of a fellow BBB in a brawl in a Zagreb park allegedly incident by the victim who attacked a group of ‘alternatives’ or ‘rockers’ and ended up a victim himself.

Zagreb, March 22 (CP) – The Split and Dalmatia county police in collaboration with the anti-corruption and organised crime office (USKOK) managed to confiscate nearly five kilos of heroin in Dugopolje near Sibenik on Friday evening.

The police had noticed a backpack flying out of a passenger car and stopped the car with two passengers who tried to resist arrest. The two were brothers in their mid-twenties.

A total of nearly four kilos of heroin was found in the backpack.

The two brothers have been taken into custody and will be facing the Split county court investigative judge. USKOK will also be informed, as there are suspicions that the two may be part of an organised illegal drugs ring.

Zagreb, March 22 (CP) – Milorad Pejic, a war crimes suspect in the Ovcara farm massacre committed near Vukovar in Croatia in 1991 was arrested at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport on March 19.
An indictment against Pejic dates from 2003 when the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution submitted a request for launching of an investigation against Pejic in 2003.
Pejic, originally from the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar was indicted for taking part in the killing of at least 200 Croatian POWs in the Ovcara massacre near Vukovar in 1991 when he was a member of the Vukovar territorial defence.
Pejic had lived in Great Britain, holds a British passport and worked as a locksmith.

Zagreb, March 22 (CP) – Although it was to be a quiet protest against being blamed for attempting to organise clashes with social groups to vindicate the death of their fellow Bad Blue Boy a week ago, one of the Dinamo soccer supporters managed to run into a Croatian Radio Television camera and push it off its stand, damaging it and lightly injuring the camera person on Friday evening.

The organisers had called on the members of the Bad Blue Boys (BBB) Dinamo Zagreb club football supporters to gather in the square carrying mops and dusters and in that way deny the charges they were going to go after other ‘alternative’ groups like ‘punkers’ and ‘heavy metal lovers’ in a bid  to ‘clean up the city’ following the death of their fellow supporter who died a week ago after being stabbed by a group he and his BBB mates attacked in a Zagreb park.

Some 200 BBB’s gathered in Zagreb’s main square on Friday evening taking a walk through the pedestrian zone chanting and singing.

The camera incident happened when a Croatian Television camera person ran towards a group of hooded supporters to film them and one of the BBB’s leapt towards him, knocking the €25,000 camera to the ground and giving the camera person a bloody nose in the process.

The police were there to identify the young attacker.

The protest lasted a total of 45 minutes and the police said that at no time were the citizens or reporters in danger, totally neglecting the fact that the cameraperson and his camera came under attack.

Zagreb, March 21 (CP) – Croatian football squad coach Slaven Bilic has announced he would remain at the post for another two years, following rumours of him possibly accepting the post of German HSV coach.

Bilic said that he would remain the Croatian soccer squad coach for another two years and would leave after that no matter what the money on offer was.

Bilic did admit however that he had been in contact with the German team for about two weeks and realised that he was a serious candidate for a coach position there. He said he had been given an offer that was very hard to refuse, but decided to stay on as the Croatian team coach as this was something he had planned to do.

Zagreb, March 21 (CP) – It has been confirmed that Robert Sveb the director of Croatian Radio Television (HTV) has resigned following the scandal in which HTV lost the rights to live broadcasts of the World Handball Championships in January of 2009 in Croatia.

In explaining his resignation Sveb said that he had resigned due to disagreement over the principle stance that HTV should take in tenders for broadcast right and production of signal for large sports events like the World  Handball Championships in 2009.

He also mentioned that rival RTL which captured the bid had offered a sum five times of what was offered by HTV and stressed that his position was that of the person who needed to make sure finances were spent rationally and was not supporting the over the top prices demanded for the broadcasting rights of any event including those to do with sports.

He said that, sadly, such views were not supported by the HRT leadership.

Meanwhile, at officials of the Croatian Handball Association are fearing that RTL does not have the facilities or the means to secure top broadcast quality saying that they would be happiest if the two televisions were to collaborate on this.

RTL officials, meanwhile have stated they had no intention of cooperating with HRT claiming they were able to do the job without a glitch.
 

Zagreb, March 21 (CP) – A veteran kindergarten teacher of 22 years offered the children in the coastal town of Sibenik dog biscuits causing an uproar.

The incident happened some two weeks ago, but its details have only surfaced. The move would have gone unnoticed had a parent not been present and even offered a biscuit.

An investigation into the incident was launched and the teacher was immediately suspended and sent for psychiatric evaluation.

She defended her move by saying that the biscuits that are good for dogs should not harm people.

Zagreb, March 21 (CP) – Although spring is here, there is no spring-like weather in Croatia, or will there be any over Easter.

Rather than bask in the spring sunshine, Croats and their guests visiting Croatia over the Easter break are to enjoy a white Easter interspersed with cloud and possibly snowfall episodes.

This is what the latest seven-day forecast for Croatia envisages with temperatures hovering around zero inland and around five degrees on the coast.

So if you’ve booked a holiday over Easter in Croatia, be sure to tag along your winter clothes and winter skiing gear, as it will be more like a winter than a spring break.

Zagreb, March 20 (CP) – Members of the Croatia football team would like for Slaven Bilic to remain at the helm of the national soccer squad.

This comes after Bilic received an offer from the German HSV club for a coach position.

After HSV made its hefty offer to Bilic it was discovered that the Croatian Football Association has so far not offered a new contract to Bilic and if this is not done quickly Bilic may take up the offer of the Germans.

The players themselves are adamant that Bilic remains the right man for the job that he has been doing well so far and think that he should be the one head the Croatian national squad at the upcoming European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.